https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog
Sat, 24 Nov 2018 13:45:20 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.9Wait, what YEAR is it?!?!https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2018/11/24/wait-what-year-is-it/
https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2018/11/24/wait-what-year-is-it/#respondSat, 24 Nov 2018 13:44:34 +0000http://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/?p=1310Continue reading →]]>Well, this has been a long time in coming. To all those who shall see this post…Greetings! I now find myself in the awkward position of having to explain why it’s been the next best thing to a year and a half since I’ve posted here. I don’t really have a single solid answer that I can point to. I’ve been busy with life, sure, but not so busy that I couldn’t have found a few minutes here or there to get a quick post put up. Rather, my lack of motivation to post here at ARS seems to have been driven by a number of factors, my motivation dying by a “death of a thousand cuts.” But no more. I’m finally ready to get back on the blogging horse here at ARS, and what better way to start off than one of my famous, patent-pending Massive Update on Things that Have Happened Since I Last Posted posts! I contemplated doing this update in a strict chronological order, going month by month from July 2017 until now. Fear not; I quickly decided that would be too ponderous and pedantic even for me, so instead I’m going to focus on the Top 3 big things that have happened, in no particular order.

Re designation

Shortly after I posted in July 2017, I found out I had been picked up for lateral transfer within the Navy from Submarine Warfare to Information Professional (IP). I had applied for lateral transfer due to the fact that I had failed to screen for Submarine Executive Officer, which effectively ended my upward mobility in that community. While I no doubt could have found gainful and satisfying employment by staying a Submarine officer, I felt the best move was to seek other opportunities within the Navy, and that opportunity has come in the form of the IP community. My re-designation meant that we had to relocate from the DC area down to Norfolk, VA, so that I could start my training pipeline.

Baby the Third

Gwen and I welcomed our third son, Andrew Charles Rucker, to the family in March 2018. This little guy has been an absolute joy, and its been really fun these last few months watching him start to interact with his twin brothers more and more. Andrew seems to think his older brothers are just the coolest. Right now, if William or James decide the baby is too annoying, they can still get away from Andrew by standing up and walking away or by getting up on furniture. I fear those days are numbered, though! At just over 8 months, Andrew is starting to crawl, and I’m sure he’ll use his new found mobility to follow his brothers around.

Back to Sea

I’m assigned to a ship again! I reported to the USS BATAAN (LHD 5) after completing my IP training pipeline in May. We are lucky in that my first IP tour is on a ship out of Norfolk, which meant we didn’t have to move again after only 6 months! Being on BATAAN has been an interesting experience so far; not only am I learning a lot about communications and networking, I’m also getting a crash course on Surface Warfare traditions and ways of doing business. I feel like the proverbial Stranger in a Strange Land at times, but I’m adapting! Being back on a ship does mean that I’m now standing duty again, and it also means that I’ll be going underway soon (I’ve not experienced that so far thanks to BATAAN being in a shipyard availability). This means some extra separation from Gwen and the boys, so that is another challenge we are working through.

That should just about catch everyone up! I want to start updating more regularly, and get back to at least a monthly update schedule. I do have some plans regarding what to cover here on the blog moving forward, but those are probably better left to a separate post. Until next time!

]]>https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2018/11/24/wait-what-year-is-it/feed/02017 Trip to Strasburghttps://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/07/05/2017-trip-to-strasburg/
https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/07/05/2017-trip-to-strasburg/#respondWed, 05 Jul 2017 22:09:57 +0000http://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/?p=1292Continue reading →]]>This past weekend, Gwen and I took the twins up to Strasburg, PA for a weekend getaway, accompanied by both my Mom and Dad and Gwen’s Mom and Dad. For those not aware, Strasburg is a big railfanning hotspot. Within a mile or so radius, you can find the Strasburg Railway, the National Toy Train Museum, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, and the Red Caboose Motel.

We stayed in two cabooses at the Red Caboose Motel. This motel employs a couple dozen old cabooses that have been gutted and remodeled into hotel rooms. Gwen and I had a “family caboose” for us and the boys, while our parents stayed in a “double-double” caboose that had two queen beds in it. This was something like the 4th time I’ve stayed at the Red Caboose over the years, though the last time that Gwen and I stayed there was something like 7 years ago! As a result of that history, the motel has a warm familiarity to it; I’ve got lots of positive associations with it from my past stays.

Accommodations at the Red Caboose Motel

In addition to the cabooses, the motel has a restaurant housed in an old heavyweight coach converted into a diner, a large gift shop with a decent sized Large Scale railroad display, a petting zoo, and a barn where they show movies every night. The front porch in front of the lobby building proved to be a popular hang-out for our group, as it provided nice views of the steam trains rolling by and the pastoral Amish farms surrounding the motel.

Playing Ticket to Ride on the front porch of the Red Caboose Motel’s lobby/gift shop building.

The Red Caboose has always had a slightly ramshackle look, which I think is part of its charm; handyman repairs, home made signs, and the like give a lived-in feel and the impression that this is a true local business, not some glittering corporate edifice. However, the ravages of time are slowly starting to catch up with the place, as some of the cabooses are showing a little more rust and paint schemes adorning them continue to fade. The Red Caboose was recently bought out by new owners, so I’m hopeful they will be able to make some improvements to keep it in operation for years to come.

The Strasburg Railroad is famous for its steam operations, running hourly steam excursions up and down its historic mainline. In many ways, it serves as the “anchor” for the other railroading themed attractions in the area. We ended up taking the trip on Friday, in hopes of avoiding the worst of the weekend crowds. William and James really seemed to enjoy the trip, though by the end they were starting to get a bit tired! We were riding in the Coach accommodations, though the trains also offer open air cars and posh parlor car options. We rode behind the venerable #675, which turned 110 years old this season!

William on the train, grabbing for Daddy’s hair.

James watches the fields roll by.

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania was a real treat, as always. The museum mostly consists of a large shed full of beautifully restored equipment and interpretive exhibits that really do a good job of helping visitors understand not just the trains, but the environment in which they operated as well.

One of a number of nicely restored historic locomotives in the museum.

In addition to the full-size trains, there are also two nicely built HO-scale display layouts, and an awesome kids area that has a large wooden train play table, a Lego train display, and other fun interactive things to do. The boys played with some of those displays, though they were pretty tired by the time we got to the museum on Saturday so it was a bit of a bust! Overall, though, this museum is very impressive and polished, one of the better train museums I’ve ever been to.

William helps Grandpa play with the wooden railway.

Rounding out the weekend, we did two toy-train activities. The first was the Choo-Choo Barn, a classic O-gauge layout that occupies a large room. The layout is the result of a collector’s effort to build a place to run his collection, and it has been open to the public since the 1970s.

All aboard the Choo Choo Barn express!

There have been continuous tweaks and improvements since then, but some of the core scenes include an animated circus and a burning house that prompts an animated fire response. The boys really seemed to get a kick out of this exhibit, and were visibly excited as we watched the trains and the supporting action. The other toy train activity was a visit to the National Toy Train Museum. This attraction is located adjacent to the Red Caboose Motel, and features displays of rare pre and post-war trains as well as operating layouts in multiple scales. Interestingly, William seemed to be way more into this museum than James did; James broke away and tried to make a run for the front door when we weren’t looking!

William and James had a blast riding this carousel!

Overall, this was a great trip that made a lot of fun memories. We will definitely be taking the twins back there at some point in the future, perhaps in a few years when they are a little older. I’ll make railfans out of them yet! Until next time…

]]>https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/07/05/2017-trip-to-strasburg/feed/0Wait…what month is it?!https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/06/29/wait-what-month-is-it/
https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/06/29/wait-what-month-is-it/#respondThu, 29 Jun 2017 14:29:52 +0000http://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/?p=1284Continue reading →]]>Obviously, I’ve been blowing off my blogging for some time now. This hasn’t been out of a conscious decision so much as it has been a classic case of procrastination combined with legitimately being very busy with work, the boys, and my other hobbies. And so, no updates since the end of February…until now. It’s gotten so bad, I can’t stand it any longer, so here we are! Lots have happened over the last 4 months, so this post will be more of a short summary than anything else.

March

Adepticon was the biggest thing that happened for me in March. I had a great time, as always! I had planned to participated in a Dystopian Wars tournament, a Firestorm Armada tournament, and a Battlefleet Gothic tournament. I did pretty well in the Dystopian Wars event, taking 3rd place! I didn’t do as well in Firestorm Armada, but that’s to be expected. Unfortunately, I got hit with some kind of bug and wound up missing the BFG tournament to stay in bed. Yikes! I did take lots of pictures, though, which I posted over on Man Battlestations.

April

This was a busy month! Easter, Gwen’s Birthday, and the Submarine Ball were all packed into April. As a result, the month seemed to fly by in a blur of activity. We tried a little Easter egg hunt for the boys this year, and it went…sort of ok.

The problem we had is that they didn’t want to give up the egg they had to pick up another! The Sub Ball was a good time. Gwen and I had skipped it last year, since the boys were so small. This year, though, we got Gwen’s parents to baby-sit and headed up to the ball. It was a fun date night out for both of us!

Gwen’s birthday went off pretty well. I set up a nice little party here at our house for her, with her parents, brother and sister-in-law and their kids in attendance.

Wedged in there was a little home appliance repair; the dryer stopped heating, and after doing a little digging around online I was able to successfully troubleshoot the problem and fix it with a new heating element.

May

May was another busy month, with our first family vacation and my Birthday. Our vacation was a trip down to Florida. We took the Auto Train down and back, which in and of itself is enough to get me excited! While we were there, we stayed with Gwen’s aunt and uncle. Before we came back to Virginia, we also went to Disney World for a day and hit the Magic Kingdom so the boys could meet Mickey.

June

Which brings us to June! This month, James and William turned 2, and I also volunteered to escort a WWII veteran during the Battle of Midway celebration. The ceremonies surrounding the 75 anniversary of the Battle of Midway were very moving, and the veterans were amazing people to talk and listen to. They all had a lot of interesting stories to tell.

The boys’ 2nd birthday party went very well! We made it a smaller affair this year, and just had my Mom & Dad (visiting from Indiana for most of the month), Gwen’s Mom and Dad, and her brother and sister in law and their kids. We were able to get them to eat a little more of their birthday cupcakes than we did last year!

That should pretty much get us caught up on the goings on of the last few months! Until next time…

]]>https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/06/29/wait-what-month-is-it/feed/0Charging Aheadhttps://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/02/28/charging-ahead/
https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/02/28/charging-ahead/#respondTue, 28 Feb 2017 05:35:57 +0000http://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/?p=1281Continue reading →]]>Greetings! A lot has been happening since the last time I posted, and I wanted to get this one up before the calendar ticked over to March.

The Twins

William and James are doing great! William is really into rolling toy cars and balls around the floor at the moment, and James is big into throwing and spinning things. They are both getting closer to walking, with James in the lead. He is actually starting to take a few tentative steps between pieces of furniture, so we are definitely in trouble! Both of them have been going to regular physical therapy sessions to improve their motor skills and get them caught up with their developmental milestones. It is amazing watching them explore and start to understand their world. I just wish they would stop eating the dropped (and now slightly fuzzy!) snacks that they find under the couch.

The Navy

I have a big turning point coming up in my career this year; I did not get selected to be a Submarine XO last year, which means that the time has come to investigate other opportunities. For now, I’m looking at other opportunities within the Navy, which means I will be submitting a package to the Spring 2017 lateral transfer board. I’ll let you know how that goes!

Miniature Gaming

So far, it seems like I’ve been able to keep about 30-45 minutes a day to goof around with my hobbies, generally while the boys are napping or after they have gone to bed (any more than that and I start to cut into my sleep time, not that I’m unwilling to do so). Miniature gaming has been the focus of this limited free time for me lately, as I plan on attending Adepticon next month and have a lot to do to get ready. A big part of those preparations has been building and painting some miniatures that I plan on using at the show, as well as practicing some of the scenarios that will be used in the tournaments I’m registered for. Suffice to say, I’m starting to get really excited for the show, but all of these preps have cut into the time I have had for other leisure activities like video games!

Podcasting

The MBS Podcast is going strong. In fact, I’m working on editing Episode 16 this week, and should have that up in a day or two. I’ve been really enjoying the podcaster experience; developing show outlines, recording the audio, and editing have all be scratching a creative itch for me that I first realized I had back in middle school when I was on the A/V club. In fact, I’ve been enjoying myself so much that I’ve started working on a second show! I’ll have more to say about that in a future post.

Until Next time!

]]>https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/02/28/charging-ahead/feed/0Gaming Retrospective: The Wild West Shootouthttps://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/01/12/gaming-retrospective-the-wild-west-shoot-out/
https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/01/12/gaming-retrospective-the-wild-west-shoot-out/#respondThu, 12 Jan 2017 22:37:17 +0000http://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/?p=1265Continue reading →]]>The year 2012 was very memorable for me. My wife and I moved twice that year, and I went through one of the more challenging phases of my career as I prepared to assume the duties of a submarine department head and return to sea. In addition to all of that upheaval, this year was also a big one for me as a gamer. It was in 2012 that I went to my first convention (and, incidentally my first Geek Nation Tours), played in my first 40k tournaments, met tons of great folks who I am friends with to this day, and in general greatly expanded the horizons of my hobby. This post is a little bit of a retrospective on the first of the two conventions I went to in 2012: The Wild West Shoot-out (WWSO) 2, held in Mesa, Arizona five years ago this month.

The Road to the WWSO

From the outside, the WWSO 2 may seem like it was an odd choice for my first gaming convention. Gwen and I were living in Virginia at the time, and there were all kinds of events that were closer than Arizona. However, I had been steadily listening to the 40k Radio podcast for the last couple of years, as that was the game I was playing the most of at the time. I got so much into it, that I actually put down the money to become a member of the official forum, the Freebootaz. It was through the show and the great crowd of folks on the forums that I found out about the convention in the first place. Romeo Philip, the founder of Battlefoam (which owned the show at the time) made it clear that the WWSO was intended to be a gathering point for all of the Freebootaz out there like me. I definitely wanted to be a part of that! Plus, thanks to the fact that I had tons of frequent flier miles saved up from all the traveling I’d been doing for work, the air fare for us out to Arizona was very inexpensive. As an added bonus, Gwen has family in Mesa, making it and easy sell to get her to come out with me.

Later, when I found out that Teras Cassidy was going to be running a Geek Nation Tour (GNT) to the event, I jumped on that too. I had been hearing lots of great thinks about Teras and the tours that he was running thanks to 40k Radio, and another little show called the D6 Generation. I was intrigued to say the least, and so I decided that if I was going to go all the way to Arizona to play 40k, I might as well do it in style! And so, it was decided. Gwen and I would be traveling to Mesa, which is not a bad place to go in January…

Leading Up to the Show

Taking in the Arizona desert scenery.

Teras had set up the tour so that the group would have a couple of days to see some of the area before the tournaments and gaming events proper started. This included a visit to a wild west town, a ride through the desert, a trip to a gun range, and a tour of the Battlefoam factory. These events were all great, especially for someone like me that had never been to that part of the country before. Gwen decided to back out of the desert stuff, since she burns easily, but she did go with us to the gun range and the factory tour. She was pretty accurate with the .22 pistol! These events were not only fun in their own right, they also gave us members of the trip a chance to get to know each other. I made a ton of new friends those few days, great guys that I am still in touch with. Looking back, this was the smallest GNT group that I have toured with; if I recall,we were only around a dozen or so folks. That gave this trip a very different feel that trips I’ve taken since, more like a family.

Scoping out Rome’s office at BFHQ.

I definitely enjoyed seeing “behind the scenes” at the Battlefoam factory. The sheer amount of foam trays and other products there was impressive; some of the more popular designs, like the Space Marine trays, were stacked to the ceiling! The production process was also fascinating to watch, as we got to see large solid blocks of foam get turned into gamer-ready retail articles. It was like an episode of How its Made! That aside, though, what has stuck with me the most was getting a look at Romeo’s office and the room they used at the time for recording episodes of 40k Radio. I think the reason why these parts of the tour have resonated so much with me over the years is that it gave me a unique insight to Romeo and his crew; no longer was it a faceless voice on my iPod or a impersonal company. Being invited into those places and made to feel welcome put a very personal touch to all of that. All of a sudden, Battlefoam was a very real place with real people that work there. Romeo, Kyle, et al were revealed to us as real people, not some internet celebrity or podcast caricature. In the end, they turned out to be gamers like us!

The WWSO

The event venue. It was held in a Holiday Inn ball room, and had some really awesome tables!

Soon enough, the meat of the trip was upon us! I ended up participating in both a 40k Team Tournament and a 40k Individual Tournament. I had originally planned to also participate in a couple of Dystopian Wars events that were planned (DW was probably at the height of its popularity at the time), but those had to be canceled due to lack of participation. In fact, though Romeo or no one else ever came out and said so, I suspect the overall turnout for the show was somewhat disappointing. However, there were still plenty of folks to play 40k with! I ended up paired with Joe in the team event, with his Ultramarines joining my Imperial Guard on the field of battle. We even had a newly purchased and painted X-Board to display them all on! In the end, we wound out at the

Me and my doubles partner Joe with our Imperials.

bottom of the rankings, ironically with other members of the GNT group. We decided to just play and have a good ‘ol time (the tequila that Teras brought around helped in that regard!) and the heck with everyone else. It was kind of funny, even at the time, to look over and see the top table guys bent over their table in furious concentration (40k can be Serious Business, don’t you know!), while we were yucking it up over every flubbed armor save in the back corner!

Hanging out and having a good time at the bottom tables of the doubles event.

Once I was on my own the next day in the 40k Singles event, I didn’t fare much better. I was running a list that I had played a lot with, so I was very familiar with it. I also had everything painted to the best of my limited abilities, so I was very happy to put it on the table. However, it was far from a min-maxed list, and I found myself getting put away fairly easily by some of my opponents who clearly had a lot more competitive 40k experience that me. I specifically remember one game against a Tau battle suit army that went…not so well. To be honest though, I really expected nothing less; this was my first tournament experience with 40k, and really my first miniatures gaming tournament experience period. As a result, I was not as accustomed to the challenges that come along with a time limit and unfamiliar scenarios. So, I wasn’t disappointed in any way by where I placed. In fact, I had a blast! All of my opponents were quite friendly and generous, so even though I might not have placed in the event it was still a ton of fun overall.

At the end of the weekend, I decided that, even though the Dystopian Wars events had been canceled, I was going to run some demos for interested gamers. I was going to use those minis I had brought with me clear across the country, darn it! The demo went well, as I was able to get several of the attendees to play a few rounds with me. All too soon, however, it was time to pack everything up. I had to clear off the table so that the hotel staff could break down the tables! It was a bit of a bummer, I have to admit, seeing what had essentially become a small gamer village get disassembled before our eyes. It’s a scene I’ve looked upon several times since at other shows, and it still strikes a melancholy chord each time I see it.

The Start of New Adventures

The WWSO was the start of gaming conventions for me. A few months after saying farewell to the GNT crew in Arizona, I found myself back with many of them in Chicago for Adepticon. This trip was a bit of a last hurrah for Gwen and me before my next assignment, which we both knew would mean I’d be busy for the next 3+ years, so we also sprung for the GNT on that trip. That is a story for another time, however! Thus, the WWSO was also the start of my GNT experiences (I’ve now taken 4 GNT trips, with a 5th coming up!). Since it was my first convention, I had no idea how relatively small the WWSO was; as I’ve already mentioned, this trip had a very intimate feel to it, something that I’ll always remember.

Post Script

Sadly, the second Wild West Shootout would also prove to be the last. After a late night brain-storming session Romeo held with us attendees at the hotel bar, it was decided to re-brand the event as DuelCon, a play on words reflecting both the western setting of the event and the fact that there were dual main events at the con (the two most attended events from that weekend had been the 40k tournament and the Warmachine/Hordes tournament). The first DuelCon was held in the fall of 2012, and the second a year later in the fall of 2013. However, since then it appears that the event has died off, which is a shame. Battlefoam is still going strong, though in recent years Romeo has taken on a somewhat less visible role in both the company and the hobby in general. It is said that you can never go home again; this case is not nearly so dramatic as that, but I can’t help but feel a small sense of loss in knowing that an event that gave me an experience that has come to mean so much to me is no more.

]]>https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/01/12/gaming-retrospective-the-wild-west-shoot-out/feed/0Happy New Year!https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/01/08/happy-new-year-3/
https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/01/08/happy-new-year-3/#respondSun, 08 Jan 2017 04:44:05 +0000http://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/?p=1261Continue reading →]]>Whew, it has been a very hectic couple of weeks. Thanks to my business trips, our holiday prep time was severely curtailed, which meant that Gwen and I were doing crazy things like taking the boys to see Santa…on the 23rd of December. As one might expect, the lines to see the Big Man were extravagant…we waited with the boys for three hours before we finally got to the front and had our pics taken! Then, of course, was the shopping; Gwen finished hers up on Christmas Eve, while I was at home working on wrapping stuff. I finally got everything wrapped around 2 AM Christmas Morning; Gwen was up until 3. And, on top of all of that, James had a medical emergency the Tuesday before Christmas that resulted in a trip to the Emergency Room and the removal of his left testicle (ouch!) All in all, this was a strange and very hectic holiday season for us. However, it was also a good and blessed one; our sons were both healthy and home with us on Christmas, and we all got to spend some quality time together over the holidays. And, after all the hustle and bustle, the dust has thankfully settled somewhat. Now, it’s time to take on 2017!

Looking ahead, Gwen and I are looking forward to taking William and James out more now that they are a little older. There are all kinds of interesting things to do with them in the area. We are also planning on taking them down to Florida in May for Gwen’s Aunt’s wedding. I’m really looking forward to that one, as we plan on taking the Amtrak Auto Train, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. It will also be an opportunity to introduce the boys more fully to the joys of train travel. Also on the train-nut agenda is a potential trip up to Strasbourg, PA to see the Strasbourg Railway and the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum. However, the immediate next big thing for all of us is an impending trip to Indiana in a couple of weeks. My sister Sarah and brother in law Chris recently moved into a new home, and we are planning on visiting them to have a belated holiday celebration. The only worry at this point is some sort of winter weather event shutting us down. Fingers crossed…

The coming year is also looking pretty good to me from a hobby perspective; there are some cool new things coming out for some of my favorite games, like Dystopian Wars, and I am also starting to play variants of a couple of games I already own; Team Yankee for Flames of War, and KonfliKt 47 for Bolt Action. I’m also looking at going to some conventions again. I’ve already reserved my badge for Adepticon, going as part of the Geek Nation Tour again. That will probably be my biggest gaming trip/event for the year. I’m also looking at attending some other events, but Adepticon is the only one (as of now) where I’m planning on staying on-site the entire weekend.

Until next time!

]]>https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2017/01/08/happy-new-year-3/feed/0The Fallon “Petting Zoo”https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2016/12/17/the-fallon-petting-zoo/
https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2016/12/17/the-fallon-petting-zoo/#respondSat, 17 Dec 2016 06:10:16 +0000http://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/?p=1258Continue reading →]]>As I mentioned in my previous update, I was at Naval Air Station Fallon this past week for a conference. Near the building where that conference was being held is what the aviators refer to as the “petting zoo,” which is a static display of a number of US and Russian aircraft. Here are the pictures I took of the display!
]]>https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2016/12/17/the-fallon-petting-zoo/feed/0A Stranger in A Strange Landhttps://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2016/12/15/a-stranger-in-a-strange-land/
https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2016/12/15/a-stranger-in-a-strange-land/#respondThu, 15 Dec 2016 04:54:22 +0000http://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/?p=1211Continue reading →]]>

Greetings! It sure has been a busy few weeks. Last week and this week I’ve been on the road for work; last week to San Diego, and this week to Fallon, NV. It’s a bit of a bummer to miss this much time with Gwen and the boys this close to Christmas, to say the least. However, the work I’m engaged in has been interesting, at least. It is an interesting experience seeing Fallon for the first time…this place, the home of the “Top Gun” air-to-air weapons school, is deeply entrenched in the Naval Aviation culture, which is a very different experience for this submariner!These two trips have been unusual in that they are he first they I’ve taken in a long time without a laptop along for the ride. Unfortunately, my 6 year old Alienware lappy has bit the dust. Instead, I’ve been relying on my iPad for my computing needs, which has mostly worked but honestly just isn’t the same. I find that doing word processing is a pain, and doing work with things like spreadsheets is more trouble than it’s worth. I’m also missing the ability to play some of my non-mobile games. Still, it is tough for me to justify the purchase of a shiney new replacement laptop, since my main use for the new one would be for trips such as this and I don’t take them all that frequently.

In the meantime, Gwen has been busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger trying to keep up with the boys. William and James have been diagnosed with some developmental delays, which in turn has prompted a slew of appointments with speech and physical therapists. Fortunately Gwen’s Mom has been able to help out getting the boys to and from the doctors. In between all of that, she has also found time to decorate the house for Christmas and get some shopping done. Talk about your super-Moms!

I think I’ll close with a few words on this year’s Army-Navy game. Yes, I’m disappointed that Navy lost to Army this year. However, while Navy’s slew of injuries and long stretch of games didn’t help, watching the game I could definitely tell that Army wanted the win more than Navy. So in the end, I feel like the better team won, and I congratulate Army on their victory. They better be ready for us next year though!

]]>https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2016/12/15/a-stranger-in-a-strange-land/feed/0My Adventures With Kerbal Space Programhttps://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2016/11/15/my-adventures-with-kerbal-space-program/
https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2016/11/15/my-adventures-with-kerbal-space-program/#respondTue, 15 Nov 2016 23:37:23 +0000http://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/?p=1203Continue reading →]]>Space…the final frontier. These are the missions of the intrepid Kerbalnaughts. Their often short-lived mission: To explore strange rocket-powered contraptions, to seek out new ways to blow up on the launchpad due to staging issues, to boldly explode in ways no Kerbal has exploded before!

Here is my Mun base! The Mun is sort of like KSP’s version of the Moon.

Erm, yes. So, Kerbal Space Program, or KSP for short, has been the recent gaming addition of mine. This game is nominally about building planes and rockets out of a selection of pre-made parts, and then having your Kerbals, short creatures which are sort of a cross between a Minion and Frankenstein’s Monster fly them and (hopefully) not die. However, for a whole host of reasons my contraptions, like those of many KSP players, tend to end in smoldering crater fashion. As a result, the game is also sometimes referred to as the Kerbal Murder Simulator!

Here is my base on the surface of Minmus, which is the second moon orbiting the Kerbal home planet.

That is apparently just fine with Squad, the game’s developer. They clearly had their tongue firmly planted in cheek when they wrote this game; from all of the Kerbal puns to the wacky names and descriptions given the rocket parts and the companies that made them, KSP is not a game that takes itself overly seriously. However, when you strip all of that away, this game really is a love letter to man’s efforts to explore space. I truly got the sense that the developers grew up stargazing, watching The Right Stuff and Apollo 13, and imagining themselves riding the Shuttle to orbit. That sense of passion for the subject matter really comes through.

There are two basic game modes to play KSP in. The first is Sandbox, where players have unlimited money and access to all available parts right from the start. The other mode is called Career mode, where players have to take missions to earn money and make scientific discoveries, which allows them to slowly unlock more and more parts so that they can undertake ever more complex missions. I have mainly been playing in the Career mode, as I like the challenge of the missions and the direction they provide. To be honest, sitting down in front of KSP in sandbox mode for the first time is a bit daunting!

This impressive edifice is my orbital base around Duna, the KSP analog for Mars.

Over the 200-odd hours I’ve played since picking up KSP over the summer, I’ve been able to figure out a lot of things; how to get to orbit, how to make space stations, even how to make a base on one of my home planet’s moons. It’s funny; often I would be playing and not noctice the passage of time. I’d sit down intending to play an hour or so before bed, only to look up and see that 3 or 4 had passed instead! This game is really engrossing and gives a player a great understanding of just what it means to explore space. Every single milestone I’ve reached has been surprisingly rewarding, although every success has been preceded by at least 5 or a dozen unsuccessful attempts (explosions generally being involved!). Even after having put 200 hours into the game, I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface on all there is to see and do!

However, I’m on a bit of a KSP hiatus at the moment. I’ve reached a point where I feel like I’ve gotten a pretty good feel for most of the mechanics of the game, and I’ve gotten to the point where I’m a bit tired of it all. I’ve since started up playing World of Warships again, but that is a story for another time. I do intend on coming back to KSP at some point, though. I still need to explore Duna (the game’s Mars analouge)! Until next time…

]]>https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2016/11/15/my-adventures-with-kerbal-space-program/feed/0One Year Laterhttps://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2016/10/23/one-year-later/
https://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/2016/10/23/one-year-later/#respondSun, 23 Oct 2016 19:37:37 +0000http://andysrandomstuff.com/blog/?p=1200Continue reading →]]>Hard to believe, but Gwen and I have been back in Virginia for a whole year already! Having the boys around makes things seem to fly by quickly. It’s been a busy year! On top of taking care of the boys, we’ve been getting settled into the house, getting used to my new job, and taking some time to make trips to Indiana for family visits. Of course, I’ve also made a few gaming convention trips, but that’s besides the point!

Lately, I’ve been using my limited free time to either work on my Man Battlestations stuff, play video games (specifically, Kerbal Space Program), or paint models, which is why there hasn’t been a ton of updates here. But hey, what else is new! I do have a few more posts planned for the (hopefully) near future, including one on how I’ve been blowing up Kerbals in the name of exploring space. Stay tuned!